Only Murders in the Building trio warns you should 'be suspicious of everybody' in season 2

Everyone's a suspect in Only Murders in the Building season 2 — even our beloved trio of amateur podcast sleuths.

When Hulu's hilarious whodunnit returns Tuesday, June 28 (with new episodes releasing weekly), it's with a fresh murder case that puts Charles (Steve Martin), Mabel (Selena Gomez), and Oliver (Martin Short) right in the center of the investigation in ways they never wanted. If they thought solving a murder in their Upper West Side building for their new podcast was difficult enough in season 1, they are most definitely not ready for how being named the No. 1 suspects in cantankerous co-op board president Bunny's (Jayne Houdyshell) homicide is going to turn their lives — and podcast — upside down.

But while the trio struggles with making the second season of their now-hit true crime podcast, the Only Murders in the Building stars promise that season 2 of their comedy series avoids any kind of sophomore slump. "Trying to live up to something that's a big success, there's always a little extra pressure," Short tells EW. "But once I started reading the scripts and realizing how well they were crafted, then you just get excited, like you did [in] the first season, about shooting it."

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Martin laughs as he recounts a story about how he was recently recognized by a fan of this show while walking down the street in New York, even though he was fully covered up with a hat, sunglasses, and face mask, and he reveals their characters are going to be dealing with that same kind of notoriety this season. "I like that we got to follow the logic, that as we became suspects and we have a podcast, we actually became more famous as people in New York City," he says. "There's now a level of awareness from other people, now we walk down the street and they wave. So there's good development in season 2."

Not all of the trio is going to be thrilled about their new infamy, however. "In the beginning, Mabel's a little put off by the idea of continuing to dive into the mystery of the murder," Gomez says. "She ends up having this turn where she really wants to be free of it and doesn't want any of that. It's a whole added other stressor."

It also doesn't help that, as of the season 2 premiere, all evidence points to Mabel as the most likely murderer in the new case. Soon enough, however, Charles and Oliver get pulled in as well. "One of my favorite jokes in season 2, it's a very small joke but I'm putting up the murder board of list of suspects and I put up a card that says, 'Me,'" Martin says with a laugh. "Now we have rival podcaster who continually casts suspicion on us — and by the way, it doesn't hurt that that's played by Tina Fey. It creates another element in the story that we have to be on guard against."

While Short jokes that "nothing surprised" him about where the case leads the trio in the new episodes, Gomez says that it was actually Mabel's character evolution that surprised her the most. "How much my character is evolving and shifting was really fun," she says. "You can tell, I hope, that in the second season that she is wanting to shed her past and she starts to get more into her art and she cuts her hair. Then she meets Alice, Cara [Delevingne]'s character, and she ends up falling in love with her."

Gomez adds that bringing Mabel and Alice's romance to life on screen was "easy," because her real-life friendship with Delevingne predates the series. "I absolutely adore Cara and we had a blast," she says. "It was really wonderful to see how that journey played out through the season."

Seeing as how season 1's murderer turned out to be the main love interest for one of the trio, does that mean we should be extra suspicious of Alice? Gomez is keeping mum, as she simply smiles, shrugs, and says, "I don't know." Short, meanwhile, warns that you should "be suspicious of everybody," to which Martin agrees.

"Be suspicious of everyone, because the show is," Martin adds. "Every time a new character comes on, we're very suspicious of that character."

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But the three stars aren't suspicious of any of the characters, because they actually knew who the real killer was before they even began filming season 2. "We were told," Short says.

"I was very surprised," Gomez adds, before Martin jumps in with, "I don't even want to say I was surprised because I don't want to give anything away."

"Right, I wasn't surprised, and yet I was surprised," Short quickly amends.

"What a comment," Martin jokes. "That's called denying the premise. 'I'm hot, and yet I'm not.'"

"Boy, that's true," Short quips.

Bringing it back to romance, Martin reveals he was excited that his character, Charles, gets to dip his toes back into the dating pool after falling for last season's murderer. "I get to date — a legitimate date this time," he says. "I don't start dating a murderer again." He also loved getting to flex his physical comedy muscles again after last season's finale featured an extended bit where Charles was partially paralyzed but still attempted to save the Arconia from blowing up. "There is a little bit toward the end of season 2, and it's very different," he adds. "I don't want to reveal anything, but it's definitely physical comedy."

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The new season also boasts an impressive roster of guest stars, from Amy Schumer playing a fictional version of herself to Shirley MacLaine as Bunny's mom and even Nathan Lane's return as the devious Teddy Dimas. Short says it was "thrilling" to have them all on set.

"Nathan Lane, we were so happy to see him back because he is so good," Martin adds. "And then you get Cara Delevingne and all these exciting people and everybody who's come on has been fantastic. It's a miracle. There's no clunkers. And the story is just really compelling. It keeps twisting and turning — legitimately, it's not just for the sake of it. It's just that we as investigators keep being led down the wrong path and the audience goes with us."

Let's see if this trio can somehow find the right path again and solve another murder — before one (or all three!) end up behind bars for the very case they're trying to solve.

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